Chapter Text
The group is currently fixing their final weapons on Hawkins hill where Dustin had set up Cerebro. Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve were busy creating flash bombs using Argyle’s recipe, who was currently shroom hunting. Robin was bonding with Sean, Will, Max, and Lucas. Dustin and Eddie were talking to Suzie and Mike. Eleven and Erica sat close to Robin’s group and made spears.
“So, like,” Erica started to wrap the sharp end to her stick. “Do you like California?”
“I like that Sean’s family lives there. And I like the beach,” Eleven’s smile lessens. “But I don’t like California. It’s too different. Mom says I’m still adjusting and that takes time, but I think she’s wrong about that.”
“Well, Mike’s here in Hawkins, and he helped you adjust to the real world. So, maybe he can help you adjust to California?” Erica shrugs.
Eleven looks toward her boyfriend and sighs. “Maybe. But I don’t think I need Mike anymore either.”
“Oh.”
( Oh. Those were some grown-up feelings that Erica didn’t know how to deal with.)
“No offense,” Sean says a few feet behind them. “But there’s no way Will is the only queer person in the Party and in his family. That’s not normal!”
Will rolls his eyes as he pours more gasoline into an empty beer bottle. “Sean’s, like, obsessed with this idea of me being surrounded by queer people but they just don’t know that they’re queer.” He passes the bottle to Max.
Max stuffs a towel into the bottle. “Are you not the only queer person in your family?”
Sean shakes his head. “My oldest sister, Ana Maria, likes both guys and girls. Mateo typically has two to three boyfriends at one time. Lola has only brought girls home. Argyle is, well, he likes everyone, I don’t know if there is a term for that. And even my grandma admitted to marrying my pops so she wouldn’t be arrested for sleeping with all the nuns in this one convent in Quebec.”
“Is being a town pariah something that runs in the family as well?” Will jokingly asks his boyfriend.
He shrugs. “I’m adopted. It skipped my genes.”
“So,” Lucas opens another beer bottle and pours out its contents. “Do you think that we’re queer, Sean?”
“Oh, I know you’re all queer. I’ve read your minds,” Sean brushes his bangs out of his eyes. “I’m just waiting for you guys to figure it out. But I’ll be here for support.”
Max smiles. “You know, I’m really glad that we met you, Sean. You seem to bring a different light to the world. You even make Will, our resident Eeyore, really happy. So thanks for that.”
Robin nods. “I agree. It makes this battle feel less final battle-y, you know? Almost like we’ll be getting out of this alive. I’m really glad that you and your brother are on our team.”
Sean frowns momentarily. “Hey. Let’s not talk like that. We’re all going to be fine. And we’re all going home after tonight, perfectly fine like it was a bad dream. And then we’ll celebrate with a… bonfire at the Creel house.” He raises a bottle. “Cheers?”
The others clink their bottle of gasoline to his. “Cheers.”
(Sean can’t silence the voice in his head screaming that he’s lying.)
“ Hermano!” Sean turns and sees his brother waving at him. He makes his way down to him.
Across the way, Nancy is sawing off her shotgun while Jonathan and Steve poured Argyle’s concoction into glass Christmas ornaments that they had found in the RV. Jonathan felt kind of bad for the family that they were stealing from, but he could convince Sean to erase their memories about it later.
“So, um,” Steve speaks up and glances at Nancy. “ Why are you doing that?”
“It’s so I won’t miss the bastard,” Nancy lets out a happy shout as the piece falls off.
(Jonathan thinks that she’s never looked prettier than she does right now.)
She smiles at his visibly awed face. “Now that that’s done, Jonathan, what’s up with El and Mike? I thought they would be all over each other right now. Kinda like Sean and Will.”
“Oh, um,” Jonathan blinks at the surprising question. He expected something else to come out of her mouth. “I think she realized something while she was in the NINA Project. She’s grown up a lot in the past few months, I don’t even know what’s going on with her sometimes.”
“It seems like it’s the same story with Will,” Steve says loud enough for both of them to hear. He winces when Nancy smacks the back of his head. “Sorry, Byers.”
“You’re fine,” Jonathan chuckles. He moves to sit closer to Steve, their arms and thighs brushing against each other. “When we moved to California, we kind of all went our separate ways and lived different lives. It was a breath of fresh air for me, but I miss talking to Will. I do. But I’m so proud of him for becoming who he has become without me. And El too. God, has she grown.”
“But they probably wouldn’t have gotten that far without you supporting them.” Steve ties off the final ornament with a gold ribbon.
(Gold is for making tracks so they won’t get lost. Green is for signals. And Red is for burning anything and everything they come across. Steve has to make sure Robin won’t throw the wrong one.)
“Did you just compliment me, Harrington?”
“Hey, I can be nice.”
“Not to me!”
Nancy giggles and rolls her eyes. “Ladies, we shouldn’t be fighting right now.”
“We’re not fighting, right Jonathan?”
Jonathan raises an eyebrow. “Oh, we’re on a first-name basis now. I am so happy to hear that, Stevie .”
“Oh, fuck you!”
Nancy doubles over with loud laughs. The two most important men in her life grin at each other.
Behind them, Sean joins his brother at the base of the hill. Argyle, the ever-gentle giant, crouches down in front of him and cups his face. Sean squeezes his wrists and lets out a puff of air. He can already tell that this is gonna be a heavy conversation.
“Hermano , prometeme algo,” Argyle starts. There are tears in his eyes. “Prométeme que pelearás. Que por más difícil que sea seguir adelante, volverás a mí. Y a Will. ¿Promesa? ”
Sean avoids his big brown eyes. “Estoy bastante seguro de que nuestra familia estaría mejor conmigo. Quiero decir, lo han dicho ellos mismos. Esta familia estaba mejor antes de que yo–.”
“¡No! ” Argyle squeezes his face roughly and Sean glares at him.
“No estábamos mejor sin ti. yo no estaba Estaba tan solo y perdido y herido y odiado. Sé lo que es sentirse no querido, pero nunca lo eres. Prométemelo, ¿de acuerdo? Prométeme que volverás. ”
“Prometo.”
(He’s lying. Argyle knows that he’s lying. Sean knows it too. But they both know that this lie was easier to face than the truth.)
Argyle pulls him into a bear hug. Sean buries his face in his shoulder and holds back his cascade of tears. The Guerrero brothers share what may be their last hug.
—
Hours later, the sun has set and they’re ready for their final battle. Will, Sean, Eleven, Max, Lucas, Erica, and Jonathan are dropped off at the Creel House. Nancy, Robin, Steve, Eddie, and Dustin are dropped off at Eddie’s trailer so they can enter the Upside Down. Argyle and Suzie make their way back to the hill and start up the Ham radio.
“What are you doing right now?” Will nudges his boyfriend while Jonathan, Erica, Lucas, and Max look for Vecna while inside the Creel House.
He, Sean, Eleven, and Mike were waiting for Erica as they sat outside. Mike and Will were on the lookout for any citizen that may be wandering in the area at night.
(Will had felt uncomfortable when he found out he would be paired with Mike. Again, he’s not really sure if he’s strong enough to not fall for Mike’s charms like in the van.)
“I’m looking for your mom,” Sean opens his eyes. “She’s cold.”
“Well, she is in Alaska.”
“Asshat.” Sean smacks his shoulder and presses a kiss to his cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too. You okay?” Sean nods but Will’s worries seem to grow.
Across from them, Eleven leans against Mike’s chest. “We should talk. After all of this is over.”
“Yeah. I’m sure you went through a lot in Nevada. I missed you.”
Eleven looks down at her hands. “I missed you too. Did something happen between you and Will?”
(Mike tries and fails not to glance at her twin brother who sits ten feet from them. He looks like he’s having his own moment, so Mike doesn’t want to bother him.)
“No. Why do you ask?”
“You two seem different now,” she picks at her nail polish. “Almost like you became friends or something.”
“Will and I have always been friends though.”
“You have?”
Erica interrupts their conversation before it can continue. She wordlessly looks at Eleven and Sean who shoot up. Their boyfriends send them reassuring smiles and the two superpowered teens make their way into the house while Erica makes her way across the street to the playground. Mike sits down next to Will and bumps his shoulder.
“You okay?”
Will shakes his head. “But I will be once this nightmare is over.”
“I think nightmare is an understatement.”
—
The Creel House is probably the creepiest house Sean has ever explored. (And that’s saying something since one of his many hobbies was exploring abandoned homes and buildings. He remembers the actual incident that made him become friends with the Byers twins. They were exploring a dilapidated beach house that was half burnt-down). Long story short, Eleven fell through two floors, surprisingly didn’t break anything, and Will had a new allergy to spider bites. But Sean had gotten so many cool pictures that they hadn’t minded the bad parts of the evening. And they had bonded while in the hospital.
Shared Trauma. Such a binding force. Let’s hope it will save us from this.
Sean and Eleven cross into the attic. Lucas stands to the side while Jonathan stands outside the door. The air is thick with trepidation, and Sean greatly misses his asthma inhaler. Eleven grabs his hand and squeezes it tightly. She understands that he has no reason to be here; was practically taken here because of circumstances. But she’s grateful that he chose to fight with her, that he still chose to be here. A rotting house of nightmares.
(Maybe they were always fated to be here. Eleven really hopes that this is the end. That she’ll never have to be a superhero again.)
Max is already talking to Vecna, so she pays them no mind when they take seats behind her. Lucas sends them two thumbs up, and they enter Max’s mind.
And that’s when everything goes to shit.
—
Eleven doesn’t remember much else from the fight besides winning. And she barely even won.
Vecna was there. He was hurting Max, and Eleven rushed in to save her. It didn’t make any sense but she had been transported into one of Max’s happiest memories: their first snowball dance. The gym had been destroyed and the DJs were playing some messed-up version of the same song Victor Creel had heard in his vision. But Eleven didn’t care, all she had to do was kill Vecna, and everyone will be safe.
It was easy with Sean by her side. But something seemed off. Almost like it was too easy. Like he was tricking them. And then Vecna recognized Sean, and Eleven was blindsided.
“Look at you,” Vecna pulled back his grotesque skin and Henry peered down at Sean’s shivering form. He was out of practice, and Eleven was scared. “So small. You never really grew up, huh, Twelve?”
Eleven fruitlessly tugged on her restraints. A few feet from her Max was being strung up as well. And she can see that now only was Max floating, but so was Sean. Lucas looked up at them helplessly. He didn’t know their favorite songs. He didn’t ask. He didn’t expect them to fall prey to Vecna’s powers as well.
“Jonathan!” Lucas shouts. The oldest Byers opens the door and gasps. “Shit.”
Sean is limp in Vecna’s tentacles. Henry continues to taunt his unconscious body as the tentacles twist and bend Sean’s limbs in unnatural ways. Eleven screams.
“Sean! Sean, wake up! Don’t go! Come on!”
Vecna makes his way to Max. “Oh, Eleven, look at you. So weak that you can’t even save your two best friends. How disappointing. What was that you said, ‘touch her again, and I will kill you again’. Looks like I’m touching her again.” Max chokes against the vine squeezing her throat. Eleven sobs. “And I’m still standing.”
“Stop!” Eleven screams and for a moment, everything stops.
The clock crops ticking. The lightning stops crashing. Henry’s hands are still raised as a victorious smile spreads across his face. Apparently, everything in Vecna’s mind had stopped moving. Eleven is dropped from the vines and she looks around as time stands still. It feels weird and all tingly but at least Vecna has stopped killing her friends. From the cloud, she can see Lucas radioing Argyle while Jonathan, Mike, and Will are surrounding her. They’re talking but she doesn’t hear anything. She turns towards Sean’s limp body.
Eleven caresses his cheek. “I don’t know how much time I have left but I need you to wake up. Please .”
Sean’s eyes fly open and Eleven makes Vecna’s vines drop him. “Janie? What’s going on?”
“I think I have a new power.” Eleven looks at her hands before meeting his eyes. “We can do this. We’re Eleven and Twelve. Jane and Sean. We’ve faced worse before.”
Sean joins their hands. “I’m just here to support you. Tell me what to do.”
“Get Max out of here. We already have a psychic connection with One, we don’t need her as bait anymore.”
Sean nods and makes his way over to Max. He cups her face and concentrates for a few moments. Eleven waits for her astral mind to fully disappear before restarting time. Vecna stops his monologuing when he realizes that Sean stands in Max’s place. A few tentacles rise up to capture them but sean sends him flying against the door.
Vecna shouts and his mindscape quickly become ashlike. Sean grabs her hand and she knows what that means. The Upside Down team had reached Vecna’s body they were burning it down. (Hopefully, they’ll listen to Argyle’s advice, and chop off his head). Raising both of their right hands. Eleven and Twelve let out screams of anguish as they completely destroy Vecna’s brain and everything he ever was.
Unbeknownst to them, The Upside Down and Hawkins begin to emerge together. But only at the Creel House. The House struggles between the two dimensions as Eleven and Twelve destroy every molecule of Vecna and every thought that One ever had. The man-made monster screeches in agony and begs for it to stop but they going.
They won't stop until Henry collapses onto the floor. The Vecna skin has been stripped from him, and he lays a bloodied corpse in the middle of the attic. Robin, Steve, and Nancy stare around as they realize where they are. The roof on the Creel House had been swept away almost as if a tornado had passed by. Argyle, Suzie, and Erica join the rest as they surround Henry’s decomposing body. Eleven crawls over to him. She’s incredibly exhausted.
“Henry, you could have been so much more,” she cradles his head in her lap. Henry continues to cough up more blood.
Sean sits down next to her. “I don’t think it was ever meant to be like this. There should have never been a war, Henry. “
Henry grabs Sean’s wrist in a bloodied, weak grip. “I should have killed you two first. I always knew you would be my downfall. But I’m still so proud of you both for growing as much as you have.”
“I’m so sorry, Henry.”
“Me too, Eleven, Twelve, I’m sorry too.” The light dims in Henry’s eyes and he takes his final breaths.
Eleven lets out quiet sobs as she leans into Sean’s shoulder. The redheaded male lets out a sigh of relief as the fight ends. He’ll miss his friend. Henry had been important to forming his powers the same way he had with El. But he can see the sun coming up, and he knows that a new day is beginning. A day of healing.
Hawkins, Indiana finally beings to rebuild.